Voracious Reader

Woollahra House

This weekend, an old friend of mine invited me to visit the construction site of her future home in Woollahra and take some photos. She is a material supplier and she want to use her brick and tile for her future home. She has engaged with an interior designer to make sure they are delivered in a thoughtful way. When I was in her site, there are several moments that strike me the most. The junction between the skylight and the brick wall, I was amazed of how it was executed as perfect clean lines and how the light dances upon the brick wall, slowly revealing its textures. The perception of the depth of space, almost reminds one of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. Openings in brick wall frames the space, adding extra layers to the eye, the space is perceived to move forward and backward at the same time. The bespoke feature ceiling in an inverted arch form, the kind of organic gesture usually employed in public space making. It is very interesting to see ...

Is it worth to buy Procreate for Architect?

Sketch by Connie Sketch by Sohan PROS Help you draw straight lines, if you can’t draw straight lines like me, then this app would be your life saver You don’t have to sketch everything, you can make use of the furniture library and texture You can group your lines/sketches into different layers, so that it is easier to erase something and faster to do alternative layout (pretty similar to the layer function in Photoshop) CONS There are no scale ruler or any scale tool, you have to rely on an accurate base image or the grid You have to use apple pencil and have to pay for the app You have to search for suitable libraries

Build a Chinese Landscape painting like a farmer

I think I know Wang Shu and his work well. A Pritzker prize winner who source local craftsmanship and material and manipulate them in a modern way. But after a trip to Hangzhou and Suzhou, I realise that I don’t actually fully understand his work. Before modelling in the computer, Wang Shu would finalise every detail in sketch format. He would think about how one opens a door, things that would occur in the space, how one turns his body to look at the mountain in the distance, how one looks up, how one look down. He would relate his methodology to the methodology of a farmer who thinks through his hands and close contact with the physical material. He also refers himself as a philosopher and a Buddhist apart from an architect. He drew inspiration from traditional Chinese landscape painting and Chinese garden. In traditional Chinese architecture, nature should be the focus and architecture is just a small portion of it. In Western thinking, building and landscape are separate and usuall...

Bedtime Architectural Stories

Search This Blog